Everyday Magic 5: Intentions
by IceNChrome
Summary: Comes after 'Home for the Holidays'. Loki is drawn to an object in a clock at his antiquities gallery job. His motives for coveting it are the usual mix of good and what-are-you-even-doing. His roommate Lyn still has no idea what he's up to. Jane moves close by and brings Thor with her. This may complicate Loki's plans.
1. What's In The Clock?

Loki stood in front of the old Swedish clock, feeling the hum of the thing inside it. It was a strange thrumming. He'd felt it on the day he and Lyn were sitting at Starbucks. He had been drawn to the area more than any other since he'd come to stay with the mortal, but wasn't sure why. There was a lot of energy in the community this mortal woman lived in. The wealth and hubris of many powerful individuals drew him like a lion to a watering hole, and this place had it in spades. At first, it was hard to sort through all of the input, but eventually he knew the place he called 'The Square' had a special pull. It wasn't until that day though, that the ebb and flow of the place lined up just right, and the object in the clock called to him. Things only happen exactly when they're supposed to.

The mortal woman distracted him, he admitted that. Her own feelings towards him were strong enough to drown out all the other magical dissonance of the place and make it hard for him to zero in any one specific thing. An old, strange part of him sometimes rose up and made him feel angry at the woman, blaming her for keeping him weak. Blaming her for diverting his attention to mundane, useless things and pulling him into her worthless existence. That part of him was the part that decided to invite an alien army into this world just to hurt his brother. That part of him also felt like killing the mortal in her sleep and slipping away into the ether again.

That was a part of him he honestly wanted to put to rest. It demanded everything of him, demanded more than he truly wanted to give.

Thus, he stood in front of this inane old clock, basking in its call, thrilling in its discovery. It promised insight and answers. He needed information, but he didn't have time to discover it all for himself. All the old tomes he could conjure from Asgard's library would not help. Stashing magically imbued objects around the house didn't completely help either. It kept his temperament in check, and helped his focus, but didn't make all the bad feelings dissipate. He needed this shortcut. He didn't want the mortal woman to be hurt. She(loved him she did she loved him and that was magic too she was magic too) was silly and sentimental, yet also good, loyal companionship.

He reached out and touched the clock, and it sang to him. He sang back to it with his own essence. "Shhh…soon. You'll show me won't you?" he whispered. He smiled as he left the room, stealing a look back over his shoulder. He'd planned to extract the object soon. Maybe tomorrow, while Sophia was at a local charity function, and Calvin had gone to lunch. He knew he had to hurry. Jane was set to move to the area in the next week, and with Jane would come Thor. While Thor was not attuned to the same frequencies Loki was, he was not without his own brand of perception. Thor would complicate matters if he knew Loki wanted to possess an object such as this, and why. Thor would also jump to conclusions before knowing all the facts. That would only lend to Loki's anger, and keep him from his true intentions.

Can't have that.

"Oh my GOD I hate moving! I swear, I'm going to throw everything out next time and…SHIT!"

Jane Foster has just stubbed her toe on the corner of her coffee table. She resisted the childish urge to hit it for hurting her. "I hate moving!" she grumbled again.

"You OK? You didn't break your toe did you?" Lyn appeared in the doorway between the kitchen and living room.

"No! It just hurt a lot! It would help if I got this living room furniture arranged so it's not all over the place." She sighed, "I'm going to do that right NOW…or as soon as my eyes stop tearing!"

"Fuck it, let's take a wine break." Lyn suggested. Jane acquiesced readily, and soon they were both sipping a glass of Pinot Noir on Jane's out-of-place couch amongst boxes and bags and piles of things in transit to their ending destinations.

"I see you prioritized in unpacking the kitchen boxes." Jane said, tilting her glass towards her friend.

"Damn straight, Homie. What's moving in without alcohol?" She clinked her glass to Jane's. "Here's to your toe…and good times ahead!"

They sipped their wine in silence for a minute before Jane asked, "Hey! You haven't had a smoke all day. Did you quit?"

Lynn rolled her eyes and then nodded. "Yeah. Loki got all weird about it back on Thanksgiving and bugged me to quit. Insisted, actually. I'm not sure what gets into him sometimes."

Jane frowned. "He 'insisted'? Did he give you a reason?"

"He said he was concerned with my health and he wanted me to get in 'better shape'. Generic shit like that. I suspect there's another reason to it, but I can't get anything more out of him. He tries to distract me with aggravation, like 'Oh I see you listen to me, mortal!' type shit, but I know what he's up to. Trying to annoy me into doing what he wants. Typical Loki."

Jane put her glass down on the table in front of her, "What do you think that other reason might be? Better shape…that's an odd thing for him to latch on to."

"I don't know. He's right though. I do need to get in better shape. The longer I'm around the more time I have to annoy the crap out of him I guess." Lyn gave a half-hearted laugh. "If he sticks around."

"I never thought I'd say this, but I agree with Loki. Whatever reason you use to quit smoking is a good one!"

The women finished their wine. Jane moved around her furniture, limping a little on her offended toe. Lyn unpacked more things in the kitchen. They worked in silence for awhile until Jane's phone rang. Jane answered, carried on an almost breathless conversation with the person on the other end and then hung up, blinking in surprise.

"Well! That was unexpected!" She looked up at Lyn, "I've been asked to speak at a symposium on worm holes last minute. Geez, I hate that. It's next weekend! Damn, the four of us had plans for that concert too, but this is a pretty big deal…"

"You're ditching us for worm holes? Sounds tasty. Ew!"

Jane swatted at Lyn playfully. "Not THOSE kind of worm holes! Space worm holes. Like…"

"Like going to Asgard? Yeah, you can keep that worm hole."

"Oh come on! You wouldn't want to go back and see more of it? It's a beautiful place!" Jane said.

"Maybe for you! I wasn't invited to the champagne welcome party. Besides, I saw the most beautiful thing Asgard had to offer. Ain't shit I care about up there now."

Jane smirked at Lyn's affectionate reference to Loki, and was about to comment when Lyn's phone rang. Jane could tell who it was immediately.

"Hey you. I'm just helping Jane unpack." There was a pause, and Jane heard a male voice talking, but not what it was saying. "Aw shit, Loki, come on! You can't be serious!"

"The most beautiful thing in Asgard…" Jane murmured as she took an armload of clothes into the bedroom to give Lyn a little more privacy.

Lyn came home to find Loki sitting on the couch with his laptop open, looking at Google flights and sipping on coffee.

"You've REALLY got to go to this seminar next weekend? What about the concert?"

"Sell my ticket. Go with Thor and Jane." Loki didn't look up, and continued scowling at flights. "Ugh…I want first class on this."

"Jane got a call about a worm hole meeting right before you called! She's going to be out of town now too!"

Loki looked up and laughed "Worm hole meeting? I never figured her to be quite so…earthy." He quipped.

"It's a space-thing." Lyn decided not to continue because that might mean bringing up Asgard, which never seemed to be the best topic of conversation.

"I know. I was jesting." Loki said lightly, still perusing flights on Google.

"So, you're going to…fly?"

Loki glanced at Lyn. "Well. You wanted me to assimilate, so…when in Rome…". He sighed at her stricken expression, "Exactly how did you think I'd get there? Teleport? What is concerning you?"

"You've never like…been away. Since you came here. What if someone recognizes you? What if…" Lyn trailed off. There were too many 'what ifs' to even put voice to.

"What if I get 'caught'? Or, what if I don't come back?"

"I kinda like you, asshole. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"How sweet!" Loki grinned widely. "I like you as well, asshole!"

"All right, all right, I get it." Lyn waved a hand at him, not wanting to start an argument. "So how did all this come up?"

"Believe me, I'm not exactly looking forward to it, but the gallery would do well to have someone with this certification, and Sophia…well, she'd like me to go."

Loki didn't reveal the real reason he wasn't happy about this seminar. It interfered with his plans to remove the object he was after from the clock in Sophia's office. He'd tried to get in to it several times now, and his plans were always thwarted by some happenstance. Sophia decided not to go to the charity function because she didn't feel well, Calvin was behind on some documentation and wanted to work through lunch. Sophia needed him to attend meetings with buyers. Something was always coming up. This weekend trip was definitely not something he wanted to do. He couldn't tell Sophia no though. That would be like looking at…

"I guess we need to get rid of our tickets. Man, this sucks! Why you people so in demand? Freakin' overachievers." Lyn slouched next to Loki on the couch, frowning at him and interrupting his reverie

"Go with Thor to the concert. You can invite him over, feed him, play the game with him. I understand he's after an armor set in the newest raid. He's a fabulous tank, but he's nothing without a caster behind him, of course."

"I gotta spend time with your brother now too?"

"Why should I be alone in my misery? Besides you're the one that orchestrated him spending more time here. You should ah…step up to the plate, as you say here on Midgard."

Lyn sat silently, while Loki skimmed through flights, and then went on to his hotel booking on the seminar's site. Suddenly, this seemed like more than she was prepared to deal with, and she spontaneously hugged him.

"Oh dear!" He exclaimed, surprised by the move. "Now, don't get like this with me. I've been to places far beyond your comprehension and navigated situations more complex than your tawdry airport security. I will return intact."

"OK."

She held on to him still, and he gave a world-weary sigh.

"I'm sure Thor will be good company."

"OK."

"Allow me to finish what I was doing, dear, and we'll go for Italian."

"OK."

She still wouldn't release him.

"Lyn…" he said gently.

"Yeah, yeah. I know you're a big boy and all." She finally let go and sat back.

"I have things well in hand." Loki smiled reassuringly at his friend.

"Your brother is going to miss the concert too." Jane said, hoping the news wouldn't bother Thor too much.

"Why?" Thor asked around a mouthful of food.

"He has a seminar to go to for his job. So, looks like it's you and Lynn, unless you're not wanting to go just you and her."

Thor swallowed his mouthful, and smiled at Jane. "It would be my pleasure! I have never spent time with any of Loki's friends before."

"Did Loki have friends?" Jane said, and shook her head at Thor's guilty smile.

"I take that as a no. Are you concerned about Loki leaving? He's going to Los Angeles. That's a fair bit away. Do you think he'll…I don't know, get into anything? Lyn says she's already worried about him. If anything happened to him she'd be devastated."

"Loki can take care of himself. I believe he's actually trying to change." Thor heaped more food on his plate.

"Honestly, why do you trust him? I mean, he's pulled a few over on you already, and he always has some ulterior motivation. I worry about Lyn more than anything though. She's…she loves him." Jane stared at Thor.

"I know." Thor finally said.

"So you don't think there's a reason to worry?"

"No." Thor said, and happily went back to his plate.

"Can you tell me what makes you so sure?" Jane prodded impatiently.

"Because they call each other names."

"WHAT?" Jane exclaimed. "That's not a reason!"

Thor just responded with laughter.


	2. A Truth Less Believable

Today was the day. It was Wednesday, and he was leaving tomorrow evening, the timing was absolutely perfect! Sojourns Remembered was quiet and empty, except for him. Calvin had taken the afternoon off to go to the dentist and Sophia left early to visit a friend that had dropped in town unexpectedly. Loki was elated! He'd need some peace and quiet in order to remove the magical object from the clock. He'd cleared his calendar of meetings, turned the volume off on the phone in Sophia's office and locked the front door, just on the off chance someone would come in. He also checked his phone, to see if there was anything pressing that might bring Lyn up to the gallery. Lyn had sent him a text that simply said 'Hey loser! I put your suitcase dnstrs.'

He smirked at the screen and replied, "You make a fine porter…sucker." He waited a moment and then added. "Will be home at the usual time. About to go into a meeting."

Yes, today was the day.

He walked into Sophia's office. The room was dark, save for the soft picture lights that illuminated paintings on the walls. The office was located in an interior room with no window, so he was doubly assured of not being seen. Wasting no time, he went up to the taller of the clocks. It was a design known as a 'Fryksdall Mora Clock', and reminded Loki of a large violin in shape. The clock was about seven feet tall, and painted an unremarkable chalky white color with gold accents. They were rare clocks, but not anywhere near as valuable as the other items in the gallery. The value was mainly sentimental to Sophia.

The clock had a door in it's front with a viewing port cut in for the pendulum. Loki opened the door and with a small cry of protest from age old hinges, he beheld the thing he was looking for.

"Now…now…" he whispered, without even realizing he was saying it. He reached inside the clock and caressed the bob of the pendulum, which actually looked more like an ornate astrolabe. It was old and tarnished, most of its detail lost under a layer of grimy dust and light cobwebs. Loki held his breath for a moment and closed his eyes, allowing his essence to reach out to the object. The old pendulum, frozen in place for so long, began to move slightly from side to side, weak at first and then stronger. The only sound in the office was a dusty 'tick tock' sound from the pendulum's movement.

Loki smiled softly at the moving disk, like a parent proud of his child's first steps. He whispered a spell to it, a spell of seduction and promises and lies. It whispered back to him, telling him of dark wisdom, woven threads of destiny, futures that may never come to pass. The dusty ticking sound became a steady hum and the dust around the elaborate bob began to smoke and burn away. A cold purple light shone weakly, then grew stronger. Soon, the entire room was awash in the otherworldly light. Shadows ebbed and flowed as the pendulum swung faster. Loki's eyes filled with the light, absorbed it. He saw scenes from another place that was like the one he was in, yet not. The time was the same, but other things were different. Inside the clock was now a doorway to another dimension, another reality. An alternate reality. Beyond that was yet another reality…and another…

Completely engrossed in what he was seeing now, his brows furrowed and he frowned. Then his eyes widened and a soft, "No…" escaped from his lips. He brought up his right hand, which was beginning to glow a frosty blue and reached into the clock. Muttering a protection spell in an archaic language never before uttered on Midgard, he followed the swinging of the glowing disk with his hand until the doorway closed, and it's arc slowed to a stop. The glow faded away and it sat still, as if it had never moved. Loki now reached in and pulled the golden disk carefully off the stem of the pendulum, frozen blue magic still emanating from his fingers. The disk fit neatly into the palm of his hand, and as his magic circled around it, it began to separate into several more thin disks, three in all, each turning opposite of its neighbor. The three rounds were indeed small windows of a celestial nature, however they changed constantly and the markings on them were foreign even to him.

"You and I are about to become better acquainted, dear." He said, and drew his magic back to him until the round, metallic object formed one disk again, and lay coolly in his palm. He slipped it into his jacket pocket, and created a glamour of the object so if Sophia happened to look into the viewing hole, nothing would look amiss. He felt a bit bad for doing this, because Sophia was…special to him. He didn't think she'd miss the object though. After all, she had no idea what she even had in that dusty old clock, and if she did, she wouldn't be able to use it anyway.

Smiling very widely, Loki turned the phone back on in her office, and wandered back into his own. That didn't take as long as he'd set aside and he had a few emails he wanted to send off before he left for the evening.

Lyn read her text from Loki about 15 minutes after he'd sent it. "Aw…'sucker'. So fucking sweet." She glanced at Loki's suitcase, sitting neatly next to the entryway closet door and rolled her eyes. "Butthole." She remarked and looked up at a knock on the door. She recognized the knock as Thor's right off. Even his 'quiet' knocks on the door meant business. He knocked like a cop.

On opening the door, her assumption was correct. There stood a grinning Thor. "Hey dude. Come in."

"Loki is not home yet?" Thor asked, walking into the livingroom.

"Nah, he will be soon though. He said he'd be home on time. You guys going to play tonight?"

"I had hoped to. We're right at EDGE of victory! Just one more boss stands between us and the best armor in the game."

"Nerds. Want a beer?"

Thor gave a thumbs up and flopped on the couch, unpacking the laptop Jane had finally bought for him out of the desperation of having hers unavailable during 'raid nights'. He was plugged in and on it in no time.

"I think I'm going to PVP my ass off tonight." Lyn said, opening a beer and bringing it to Thor. It was about this time the door opened and Loki breezed in. "I ever tell you about the time I whipped Loki's ASS in PVP? Caster vs. Caster and that bitch went DOWN!"

"Oh hush!" Loki said in mock annoyance. "She used a healing potion and thought I wouldn't notice because I was a noob. Weaksauce!" He rolled his eyes and brushed past Lyn to the kitchen.

Feeling a rush of affection, Lyn came up behind him and hugged him suddenly around the waist. She noticed his body stiffen slightly He's hiding something what is he hiding what does he have? And then relax as normal. It happened so quickly, she wasn't sure if she felt it, but she was definitely not mistaken at the way the hair on her arms and the back of her neck stood up as if a cold draft went through the room. Or some type of energy.

"H-hey…" she said in an uncertain tone.

Loki quickly turned around, stared into her eyes, and licked his lips suggestively. "What's wrong, dear? Missing me already, and here I have yet to leave!"

Lyn blushed slightly, a bit flustered…and distracted from her musings on strange energy which is exactly what Loki intended. He brushed a finger under her chin then grabbed a beer out of the fridge. "Getting on Thor's level!" he said and disappeared into the living room.

"That's Stella Artois not Budweiser, Mr. Snooty-pants, so nah!"

While her voice sounded jovial, she felt oddly shaken. She poured herself a glass of wine and stood in the kitchen sipping on it while listening to Loki and Thor talking about the raid they were about to join. Something felt off, but she wasn't sure what it was. Loki had something he probably shouldn't. She stepped into the living room and asked Thor where Jane was and if she'd be coming by. In the moment it took him to answer, she stole a glance at Loki. His suit jacket was off, and he sat on the couch next to his brother, still looking crisp and formal in a vest and white shirt.

Loki and Thor played their game for a few hours while Lyn decided to watch shows on her laptop. Nothing else out of the ordinary happened. Loki was his usual impatient and smartassy self. She eventually headed upstairs. She read for awhile in bed, but was really waiting for Loki to come up so she could attempt to get out of him what strange thing he had brought home this evening.

It wasn't long before she heard Thor leaving, and Loki's footsteps on the stairs. He opened the bedroom door and smiled at her. "Couldn't sleep?" he said lightly. "Was Thor being too loud, for it certainly was not I…"

"What have you got." Her voice was flat, betraying the slightest hint of trepidation.

Loki raised his eyebrows and hung up his jacket in the closet. "Whatever are you on about?"

"You brought something home with you. I don't know what it was, but I felt it when I hugged you in the kitchen. Please Loki…please don't start shit now. Not after all this time, honey…"

"I'm afraid you're mistaken. I have nothing with me." He said slowly. He unbuttoned his shirt, letting it fall open.

"Don't give me that line. Something's…weird. I feel it."

Loki crawled slowly onto the bed, sidling up to Lyn and brushing some of her hair back behind her ear. He felt her unwilling arousal. He knew the effect he had on her, and was hoping to once again distract her with it.

"I think I know what's wrong, dear. You're feeling anxious about my trip, aren't you? I assure you, there's nothing to fear."

His voice was so sweet and gentle, Lyn felt lulled by it. Her eyes closed for longer than a blink and she opened them to look into his bright green ones. "Loki…" she whispered. Then blinked and looked away from him, trying to clear the Loki-fog that was building in her mind. All she wanted to do was nestle down in the covers next to him and listen to him breathe before falling to sleep. Instead, she said, "Yeah, I'm anxious about that, and now I'm also anxious about whatever other shit you're up to. What did you find, Loki?"

His intense gaze didn't falter as he said, "There's nothing. Nothing you need to concern yourself about." He got off the bed and headed for the door. "I'll be back. I need to get ready for bed."

Lyn was left contemplating the door. He was obviously not going to come clean with anything tonight.

The next day, Lyn sat with Jane at their favorite cafe', sipping coffee. Jane noticed her friend was very distracted. "Are you worried about Loki leaving tonight?" she ventured.

Lyn sighed and slouched back in her chair. "I'm worried about…I don't even know what. I don't like that he's going away. He also…something's off."

Jane frowned, and tried to resist outwardly cringing. The thought 'I knew this would happen eventually' came unbidden into her mind and she quickly fought to shove it away. "What?" she said, her voice sounding more fearful than she meant.

"When he came home last night, I went to hug him, and he didn't expect it. He stiffened up and I felt some kind of…energy. Something fucking creepy that felt like when you get a chill. It felt like he was trying to keep me from noticing too, but it didn't work."

"I assume you asked him about it."

"Well, yeah. After Thor left, I asked him about it. He just avoided my questions and acted like he didn't have a clue what I was talking about. Then he tried to distract me by looking pretty, and kinda succeeded…"

Jane smirked out laughter at this.

"Shaddap you! Anyway, he didn't tell me shit."

"Maybe it was nothing, I mean, this has been bothering you since you found out about it. I know you're going to miss him, and worry about him. As far as feeling strange energy near him well…" Jane trailed off and though about her response a moment. "He's magic, he uses what we think of as 'magic'. I'd imagine that type of energy must be intrinsic to him. It's not surprising you'd feel a bit of it. Thor brings down lightning, I mean…" Jane shrugged and smiled, "…neither of them are human. We're still trying to figure out what's what with them."

"I dunno Jane. I felt like there was something else. I'm pretty attuned to Loki after all this time. I'd never felt that before. I guess Thor didn't mention feeling anything weird after he came home?"

"No." Jane shook her head. "He came in, we watched Adult Swim for awhile, and then went to bed. He mentioned he got what he wanted out of that raid though."

Lyn ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "Maybe you're right. Maybe it's just me worrying about him."

"I know you care about him deeply. Are you taking him to the airport tonight?"

"No, his boss arranged for a car to drive him up there, because he's like…all fucking important, yo."

Jane laughed and said, "Loki just LOVES to feel important, and we both know that!"

"Such a bitch I live with, I swear!" Which got them both to laughing.

"Well, you'll have Thor to deal with this weekend. Are you sure you're up to it? It really sucks that Loki and I are both away and leaving you guys like this."

Lyn sipped on her coffee. "Aw, we'll be fine! I need to get to know Thor better anyway. Loki talks so much shit, blah blah, drama drama, you know him. Speaking of His Dramatic Majesty, I need to get home before he leaves. I need to make sure he packed his toothbrush and all that."

Jane stood up and gathered her purse. "Yeah, yeah I understand. If you need to give me a call after he leaves, feel free. I'll be up."

Loki was already at home in the bedroom as Jane and Lyn visited at the cafe. He sat quietly on the edge of the bed. In his hand, he held the round, elaborate object again and watched it's three disks rotate around, and then open up to each spin slowly floating on their thin sides just above the palm of his hand. Awash in the strange cold purple light they emitted, Loki's face was serious as he raptly watched what the disks were showing him. Pictures appeared to him, and to only his eyes, they seemed as large as watching them on a movie screen, even though to an observer, they would have looked like small wisps of purple-blue smoke floating inside the three spinning disks.

The scenes changed, depending on which disk faced the furthest from him, and which of it's sides were currently visible to him. He flinched at several scenes he saw. His respiration and heartbeat were at a low ebb, his body temperature dropped to below room temperature. Soon after, the temperature in the room itself began to drop.

"I need to know how to..to..stop it. How do I stop it?" He whispered. "There must be a way. There's always a way."

He continued watching the changing scenes in front of him, his expression still dire. Suddenly his eyebrows shot up and he exclaimed, "Her! I need to find her. How?" The disks seemed to answer him, stopping, then reversing their directions, showing him another scene.

"If I find her, and bring her here, and then Thor and I go, we could prevent this, as well as save my…my friend?" The disks turned more slowly and then stopped. Loki peered at what they showed him and a tear formed in the corner of his eye. "You must show me where this is. Which passage?"

The temperature in the entire upstairs was now dropping. A beam in the attic above the bedroom creaked as it contracted from the temperature change.

Just as Loki was about to see what he hoped to see, the front door opened and Lyn called, "Loki-lou! Are you home?"

Loki cursed and mumbled a spell to the disks. They closed and turned into the brass pendulum bob again. He disguised it as a pocket watch and slipped it into the drawer of his nightstand.

He quickly moved out on the upstairs landing and called down. "Yes, just getting some last minute things together for my trip. I'll be right down."

He grabbed his travel case from the bathroom and sauntered down the stairs, putting on a smile for Lyn who looked up at him with eyes filled with love, as they always were in the first seconds she beheld him. It was something the human couldn't hide and didn't even know she did. Her eyes were as easy to read as a stop sign for Loki. At first, it had annoyed him. Over time though, it had become a comfort to him. She was 'his', and only looked at him that way.

"Are you summoning demons in the bathroom again? I wish you'd clean off the mirror after you did that shit, man."

"Ha! I'm summoning portals to other dimensions this time!"

Sometimes the truth was less believable than a lie.


	3. Moral Support

"Hey, your car just pulled up in the driveway." Lyn said, unenthusiastically. This trip Loki was going on filled her with dread and anxiety. She didn't mention it to him, but her imagination churned endless images of disaster and woe, and she feared the worst for him. She also didn't want to admit to herself how she dreaded being alone now, when at one time being left alone was what she craved the most. Having Loki around changed that for her. His presence changed so much for her, which was why she feared it's absence.

The driver came up the front walk and knocked on the door. Lyn sighed as Loki opened it, and handed his luggage off. This meant he was really leaving.

"Well, looks like I'm off. I'll be back on Sunday evening." He said, shouldering his laptop case. He smiled at her and expected to be out the door without another word.

"Like I'm not going to walk you outside!" Lyn said and followed him out the door, even though he rolled his eyes at her.

As they reached the front gate a brown car pulled up behind Loki's ride in the driveway. Thor got out of the passenger's side and came up the walk to meet them.

"What's this about?" Loki said, irritation obvious in his voice. "Don't tell me you're worried too." He remarked dryly as his brother joined them.

"Who was that?" Lyn said, noting the brown car leaving.

"Uber!" Thor said brightly, smiling at his frowning brother and sulky friend.

"Fabulous." Loki said and went to push past Thor. "I was just leaving."

"Why are you here? Something wrong?" Lyn asked.

"Jane sent me. She said you might need moral support." Thor said, the bright smile never leaving his face.

"Whoa whoa…hang on there! You can't just like…leave." Lyn exclaimed to Loki, stopping him in his exasperated tracks. Then she turned back to Thor and told him, "Jane probably just wanted you out of her hair while she was trying to pack, right?"

"I am going to be late…" Loki growled.

"OK, don't be an asshole. Come here…" When Loki was close enough, Lyn hugged him tight, burying her face in his chest, murmuring, "I'm going to miss you so much, you better come back in one piece and you better call the MOMENT you get on the ground in California." She looked up at him and said, "Promise, OK? Don't make me get all worried and shit, because I hate that."

"I promise." Loki said, noting the wetness in the corners of her eyes. He didn't understand the woman's anxiousness, but he decided to give her a break. This was obviously troubling to her. His arms encircled her and he gave her a fast hug. "You won't even notice I'm gone."

"Yeah right." Lyn mumbled, releasing him.

Loki looked up at Thor and gravely told him, "Brother, keep a watch on my Lyn. I'll also be expecting her in one piece on my return."

"Of course! We'll watch over each other. All will be well." Thor said. He thought he caught a glimpse of genuine concern in Loki's eyes before he turned away. It gave Thor hope that perhaps Loki was coming to care for Lyn, or, hell, starting to care about someone besides himself. Loki had never been close to anyone besides Frigga. For over a thousand of Lyn's years, Loki had been a one man army. Thor wondered how many mortal lifetimes that would be. The thought saddened him slightly, but never one to dwell in dark thoughts overmuch, he didn't let it get him down. The present was what mattered, and presently Loki's new friend was telling him how handsome he looked and giving him various pieces of advice on dealing with airport security and airplane air and creepy people sitting next to him on the plane.

Finally, Loki got in the car and waved at Thor and Lyn as he pulled away. As soon as the car turned the corner, Lyn burst into tears.

"There, there." Thor said in a very un-Thorlike voice. "He will be fine." He wrapped an arm around Lyn's shoulder and gave her a supportive squeeze. "How about we go inside and give Jane a quick call. I'd like to check on how she's doing, and she'd probably like to talk to you."

Lyn nodded and allowed Thor to guide her into the house.

"I'm sorry man.." Lyn said, still crying. "Dammit, I didn't think I'd DO this…" she angrily swiped at her eyes with a tissue. "Fuck."

"Not a problem!" Thor said, already in the kitchen, pulling out a beer for each of them. Jane had been right. SHE had certainly known Lyn was going to do this. Thor knew too, actually. That was why they agreed that someone should be there with her when Loki left.

"Geez, I want a cigarette. None here though. I haven't even cheated since the day I quit ya know?" She looked up at Thor with red eyes. "I promised him…" just that much mention of Loki made fresh tears come to her eyes. She took her beer into the living room and sat in Loki's place on the couch.

Thor sat in his usual spot and called Jane. They talked for a minute or two before Thor asked, "Would you like to talk to Jane?"

"Sure, put it on speaker." Lyn said, and Thor did, setting the phone on the couch between them. "So, did you send Thor to watch over me?"

"I hope you're not mad!" Jane said sheepishly. "I figured you'd need a shoulder and I was trying to get packed up to leave in the morning."

"Nah. Not mad. Loki was pissy with both of us so I guess we got ours. I started crying like a little bitch, I swear…how the fuck old am I again? At least he was gone before I started up. It's stupid to be so worried about Loki, he's a grown man."

"You care about him, and you two are really close. This is the first time he's been away from you in, what…a couple years now? That's kind of a big deal. You're entitled to feel apprehensive."

"He was a bit apprehensive too!" Thor called out, then smiled and took a swig of his beer.

"This guy!" Lyn said. "I don't want to keep him from you, you guys probably want to, ya know…say goodbye too."

"Oh it's fine! I'm just running around in here because I procrastinate. It's better he's not here to distract me, otherwise I might sit on the couch and put it off even more. Blah! Play your game or watch some TV! Send him home when you're tired of looking at him, OK?"

"Thanks Jane. Really. I owe you." Lyn said quietly.

"I know how it is. Hey! You've got to babysit Thor on Saturday at that concert too. Make sure he doesn't crowd-surf or do too much dancing."

"I'll try my best." Lyn said. She spoke to Jane for a little longer before telling her goodnight and letting Thor take over. While he finished talking to Jane, Lyn put on the TV and looked for either Spongebob or South Park, both favorites of the God of Thunder. She found Mr. Squarepants on Nickelodeon, and Thor's night was made. Loki wasn't one for watching these kind of shows, and usually neither was she, but oddly enough the goofy little show was just right and eased Lyn's worried mind.

After a few minutes of watching Spongebob, she checked her phone and found a text from Loki. It read, "No tears and don't let Thor drink ALL the beer!"

She took a picture of Thor with a beer in his hand and Spongebob on the TV in the background and sent it to Loki.

"It's as I figured." Came the reply.

Lyn wanted to tell him how much she missed him and how she couldn't wait to see him, but knew how he really didn't care for so much sentimentality. She'd fussed at him enough already. She simply replied with a string of silly emojis and let that be that.

The two of them sat on the couch all evening, watching various shows until Lyn's phone rang and it was Loki, dutifully telling her he had landed in Los Angeles and he was off to his hotel.

"How was the flight?"

"Abysmal."

"That sounds about right. Your bro's on his last beer, and I'm about to fall asleep."

Loki sighed in annoyed Loki fashion. "He's STILL there? What are you two doing, keeping a vigil in case of my demise? Are there candles and incense lit as well?"

"Yeah, friggin' smartass. We read your diary too, so how 'bout dat?" Lyn joked.

"That would be a good read for the both of you. You'd do well to use it as a reference in matters of social finesse and grace."

Lyn dissolved into laughter and exclaimed, "Fuck YOU! Oh my God you're SO obnoxious!"

"Loki must be well." Thor commented. "Tell him I said hello!"

"I heard him, as well the entire neighborhood must." Loki grumbled. "Tell him to go home and stop guzzling our beer."

Lyn turned to Thor and said, "Loki said hello and he's glad you're still here and to drink all the beer you want, he'll buy more when he gets back!" Which made Thor smile and Loki groan.

"After that, I need a martini. I'm going to stop in at the bar here and have a nightcap before bed. Do you not have work tomorrow? Go to bed!"

"Geezus! Yes MOM. Well, now that I've heard from you I feel much better, guess I'll be turning in soon."

"Such a worrier you are."

"You miss me."

"You miss ME!"

"Goodnight, LOKI."

The only response was a low chuckle from Loki's end of the phone and then silence.

"You and he are quite entertaining to listen to." Thor said from his light beer haze at the end of the couch. Lyn blushed at that, but tried to hide it. "I guess I'll call an Uber and head home." He added, feeling confident at Lyn's lighter mood that at least she wouldn't worry herself to a sleepless night.

"OK. Hey…if you want to come hang out tomorrow evening too, feel free. Beer's on me. Bring your laptop and we can game a little?"

Thor nodded and said, "That sounds agreeable to me."

Loki hung up the phone, sighed and sipped on his martini. The place made a halfway decent one, and he stretched his legs out, finally. He found air travel to be utterly ridiculous, but Midgard had little else to offer as far as a faster means of getting from place to place. He actually could have used magic to get where he was going, but felt a strange obligation to try to be 'normal' for Lyn. This was also partially for his own selfish reasons too. The more he carried on normally, the less questions she would ask. He didn't fear her stumbling on to the object he'd found. Part of its own cloaking device was making itself hard to find when not being manipulated by a magic user.

Manipulated was not a good word though. This…entity was more like something to be consulted. The thing had a strange consciousness to it, it was hardly an inanimate tool. It knew what he wanted to see and showed it to him. Oh he couldn't wait to get back home to speak to it more! He'd already seen into the doorways of several other realities. He'd seen other Lyn's and Thor's and even more of himself. A few of the scenarios he saw upset him, and one was…inconceivable. The current events surrounding his present reality were very favorable for this distasteful probability to come to pass here as well. To meld with it, and possibly absorb it. If so, it could take away everything he'd worked at, and destroy the lives of others he felt some sort of…duty to.

He charged his drink to his room and headed to the elevators, his stylish Tumi luggage whisking along behind him. On reaching his room, he pulled his phone out, took a picture of the lovely late twilight view from his window and texted it to Lyn, who he thought would probably like to see it. She loved sunsets.

Did he miss her? What a preposterous idea!

He assumed she was in bed now, or hoped she was. There was a two hour time difference between California and home. She was no more fond of early rising than himself. He did decide to text his brother though, and let him know all was well. He felt more uneasy about Thor getting close to the object in the bedroom than Lyn. Thor might be able to feel something amiss, even though he'd have trouble pinpointing what it was. This was part of the reason he'd avoided showing Thor where he worked or talked much about what he did. He didn't want Thor to meet Sophia either. He felt confident he could keep that scenario from happening. Thor had no reason to go to the gallery, and he didn't seem overly interested. Thor had no reason to go upstairs at the house either. He'd be distracted all weekend with the concert and Loki would be back by Sunday night, and Jane the following day.

Loki felt confident he had a good grip on the situation until he could ascertain the best course of action. Once that was worked out, he would have to involve Thor. Thor would be integral to the success of this mission, but it all had to be handled delicately. Finding that course of action was the difficult part. He would need several more 'consultations' with the entity the object represented before he was sure of what was next. He needed to be able to sell Thor on the situation and the action being taken so he didn't suspect there were any other motives or outcomes added in to the plan. Not like it was hard to keep things from Thor though! Loki had always been good at distraction, especially when it came to big brother.


	4. Close Call

Lyn woke up the next morning and was happily surprised to see the picture of the warm twilight sky Loki sent the night before. It was doubly surprising that he would think of her to take the picture and send it to her. As much as she didn't like to admit it gestures of thoughtfulness mostly came from her side and Loki was the less-than-grateful recipient. She smiled at her phone before sitting up on the edge of the bed and frowning at the too early morning. It had been a weird night without Loki around. She missed his sleep sounds, especially the odd, low purring sound he'd make when he was deeply asleep. Lyn figured it was his version of snoring, but it wasn't very loud and it was actually comforting. She smiled while thinking about him, and then sighed, feeling his absence strongly.

She'd had a lot of very strange and vivid dreams last night. She dreamed about places and people that were familiar to her, but somehow off from what they should be. She was in her room, trying to get out, but the door was too big, and there were no light switches on the walls. There was a sullen orange sun going down in a dusty-looking horizon. People were running, laughing, things kept disappearing. She saw strange buildings, unreal creatures, and heard ugly, terrible voices. She was actually happy to wake up.

"Maybe I had too much booze and Spongebob last night. Yech…" She got ready for work and decided to sneak one of Loki's scarves out of his closet to wear today because reasons.

As she stood peeking into his scarf rack, she bumped into his nightstand and jumped slightly. "What the…" she whispered, turning around quickly. She felt a draught of cold air, like a cracked open window in winter. She ran her hand along where she'd felt the cold and felt nothing odd this time. She put her hand on Loki's nightstand and had a disconcerting impression of something hiding and peeking at her, not wanting to be seen. She didn't see anything out of the ordinary, it was more of a feeling, on par with deja vu.

Feeling an oppressive sense of dread, she reached out with a lightly trembling hand and opened Loki's nightstand drawer. She felt ashamed of doing so, she didn't want to snoop; but the memory of whatever weird thing Loki brought home a couple days ago was still with her. She would do anything to prevent him doing harm to himself through a bullshit-silly idea that could lead to him being dragged away from her and possibly up to Asgard where lord-knows-what kind of tortures may await him. She pulled the drawer slowly open and a rush of odd thoughts flew out at her like bats from a cave. She thought she saw her own face mirrored in a dark, frightened caricature in front of her and stepped back, waving her hand in front of her face in a shooing motion, but there was nothing there.

Hesitantly, she looked in the opened drawer. When nothing else happened, she gingerly nudged the objects in it, pushing them around gently. There were pens, some cuff links, an old pocket watch, stray change, tie clips, one of those weird daggers that she'd found around the house before that she chose to ignore. Aside from that it looked like any other fashionable man's nightstand drawer.

"Nothing weird in here. Well almost nothing." She said aloud. She cupped her elbows in her palms and looked around nervously. "Goddamn it anyway, Loki!" she whispered, closed the drawer and went about borrowing one of his scarves for the day, just to have him close somehow.

Thor saw Jane off in the morning and also felt a pang of loneliness at first. He'd miss her as he always did when they were apart. He sighed deeply and went back inside to have another cup of coffee before getting on with his day. Currently, Thor's days were filled with helping Jane analyze the data from her last project and keep her lecturing schedule up to date along with hanging out with Loki and Lyn. These simple things made his heart feel more full than ruling over Asgard ever could. He was able to keep company with the people he cared about most. The only thing missing from the equation were his mother and father.

The light smile on his face faltered slightly as he thought about Frigga. Her death had been an unexpected horror that not even his eternal optimism could make peace with yet. Her loss still felt like a hole in his heart. The recollection of her face brought the smile again to his countenance even brighter than before. He would always miss Frigga, but if not for her sacrifice, all of Asgard, and indeed all of the nine realms, would have been plunged into darkness and disarray.

Thor took his coffee into the study and sat at the desk in his usual spot, glancing fondly at Jane's empty chair. He pulled up the data sheets he'd been working on and tried to concentrate on them, but his mind kept wandering. He was filled with 'what-ifs' this morning. What if Frigga and Jane had not pulled off their planned illusion? What if they had not defeated Malekith, and the Ether had been lost? What if he made it to Frigga's chambers faster and was able to save her? Would he have been able to choose between his mother and Jane? If not for Loki, he would have had to make that choice, and he also might have fallen that day as well. Frigga's death had brought all of them closer together, Loki included, even though Loki did not wish to stay in Asgard afterwards. The rift between Loki and Odin was still too great. Thor had faith that the strain in his relationship with his brother could be repaired with time. He did worry about Father and Loki though. Loki still felt so betrayed, so ostracized. No one in Asgard realized Loki's part in saving them during Malekith's onslaught, and they never would.

He picked up his phone and re-read the text message Loki had sent him last night. "All is well. You have my appreciation for looking after Lyn. She is beset by chronic worry. Distract her."

Always giving orders, Loki. Thor shook his head and sighed. Frigga would have been elated at his relationship with Lyn, such as it was. He wished she had survived the siege on Asgard and was able to see Loki have such a close friend. She'd expressed hope that Loki would find someone that cared about him regardless of his Jotun heritage, or past deeds and temperament. The only way Loki had found someone that adored him without constraint was leaving Asgard. There is a reason for all things, and all things had their own paths to travel, including Frigga and Loki. He did wonder though, how Loki had come to terms with Frigga's death. Loki had left Asgard shortly after Malekith's defeat, and he had never spoken at length to Thor about it. "A mystery." Thor murmured.

Taking a deep breath, Thor continued with his task, and let go of the thoughts of his mother, brother and that sad time in Asgard.

Despite all his protests to the contrary, Loki was actually enjoying the seminar in Los Angeles. He spent the day attending lectures, schmoozing around with others in the antiquities business, passing out his business card and extolling the virtues of Sojourns Remembered and of Sophia Ellison. At one point during a break in the day's activities he checked his phone and wasn't surprised to see a message from Lyn. She was doing well, or at least doing well at hiding that she wasn't doing well, but she mentioned she had passed a strange night with a lot of odd dreams. She blamed it on a beer or two too many, and watching too much Spongebob. Loki felt skeptical about this, but didn't think there was any way she could get impressions from the object he'd hidden in the drawer. If she looked in the drawer all she would see is an old pocket watch. Lyn was a run-of-the-mill Midgardian, and didn't posses magical abilities. She wouldn't be able to sense it there, it was out of her range of perception.

He thought back to the time Lyn had showed him that box of food spells that belonged to her mother. He'd led her on a merry chase all around the local Renfest to find supposedly 'magical objects'. Of course all of that had been a ruse. He'd really just wanted to go out to the fairgrounds because the place itself carried a vibe he enjoyed…and he'd wanted some more of that oil. It smelled like something straight from Asgard, and reminded him of the few good times he had there. During all this, if Lyn had any inkling of magical prowess, she would have known the game he was playing, but she doggedly trekked along. She also copied all her mother's food spells into that book. It ended up being an actual good experience for her, which wasn't all of what Loki intended at first, but he certainly wasn't about to spoil any good feelings she received from it. He was still making peace with the loss of his own mother.

A thought, unbidden: The liesmith deceives himself now? The trickster becomes his own mark?

Loki frowned. Thoughts of Frigga filled his mind. He felt the most crushing sadness as he remembered how he would hide with her away from Thor when he became a little too exuberant to deal with. Frigga would teach Loki spells and help him develop his innate magical talents. Her gentleness helped get him through those awkward times of youth when others would often refuse to be in his company, somehow sensing his difference. In the end she had sacrificed herself for him, for all of them…

…and why was this on his mind suddenly? He came back to himself, looking around to see if anyone else noticed how 'away' he was. He was one in control of his thoughts at all times, and he had fallen into this strange downward spiral of memories as if it were once again the abyss. His eyes narrowed and he thought that perhaps his magical talisman wasn't as safely hidden as he thought. Perhaps being in such close proximity to him had somehow awakened a magical sense in Lyn? Interesting idea, however unsavory. He'd have to explore that possibility when he returned.

He sent her a quick message in return, telling her that he'd be back before she knew it, and to put some of that lavender spray on the sheets because it helped with sleep. He didn't ask what she'd dreamed about even though he was extremely curious. He'd make sure to pull that information out of her when he got back. He shook his head slightly, took a deep breath and centered his energy, preparing to head into a Fine Arts Appraisal Standards class.

Thor dropped by to see Lyn that evening after she came home from work. She had the beer ready and made steakburgers, one of Thor's favorite Midgardian foods. South Park was soon playing on the TV and the game up on their laptops. Trying to get a group together for a raid that night was challenging, and caused them both much aggravation.

"Why are people so fucking flaky on Friday nights?" Lyn grumbled. "This is the third healer that couldn't hang, and DPS is like a revolving door. Don't people want to get this achievement? Damn."

"If this person steals my aggro one more time…" Thor rumbled under his breath.

They were quiet for awhile, the only sound in the room being the TV or mouse and keyboard clicks.

"Oh fuck no! Wiped? WIPED?! Come on, man! We were at 96%!" Lyn exclaimed.

Thor threw his hands up and looked to the ceiling in helplessness. "Why? WHY?" He moaned miserably.

"Shitty buzz." Lyn said disgustedly.

Thor got up and said, "I need to get away from this for a few minutes." He stretched and took his beer bottles into the kitchen. "Need anything while I'm up?"

"I don't suppose I could con you into going upstairs and grabbing my eye drops out of the bathroom? Playing the damn game is making my eyes really dry and they're starting to hurt."

Thor agreed and headed upstairs to the bathroom. The eye drops were in the cabinet right next to the door, no big deal. He didn't even really have to step into the room, just flip on the light lean in and…

He heard someone whisper from the bedroom.

He stopped and turned in the direction he'd heard the whisper. The bedroom was dark and shadowy. The shades were drawn and what little light was left outside lent a gloomy blue cast to the room. He stepped inside and looked around. There was no one there. Nothing seemed out of place. His eyes wandered across the large bed, neatly made. The dresser and vanity against the wall on the left, the closet doors on the right. He was regarding the closet when he heard the whisper again. This time it came from straight in front of him, from the night stand next to the bed. Stepping closer, he felt a strange coolness radiating from the nightstand. He reached out to touch the drawer and pull it open, but a weak force repelled his hand. It was only a minute sensation, but a clear one.

"What is this?" He whispered.

"Hey man! You find the drops OK?" Lyn called from downstairs.

Thor hesitated, wondering if he should bring this up to Lyn. He decided perhaps he should. Judging by the objects on top of the nightstand, it belonged to his brother. Thor's heart sank. Could Loki be up to something? After all this time of living on Midgard? After what they'd been through on Asgard together? How could Loki do this?

"Yes. I overlooked them at first. Coming down." He went into the bathroom, grabbed the drops and went back down.

After they had both settled in and watched a little TV, deciding the game was too damn frustrating for the night, Thor decided to segue into the topic of what he'd felt upstairs.

"Lyn, have you felt or heard anything strange upstairs?"

"What?" Lyn said, startled.

"While I was upstairs getting your eye drops. I heard something strange from the nightstand next to the closet. I felt a stream of cool air. Have you experienced this?"

Lyn looked back at him with wide eyes, not knowing what to say. Thor's gaze had become very sharp as he gaged her response. "Yeah. I did. This morning. I also had a bunch of really weird dreams last night."

"Is that Loki's nightstand?" Thor asked.

"Yes." Lyn answered simply.

They looked at each other for a few seconds. Thor couldn't miss the fear in Lyn's eyes. She was so afraid something would take Loki away from her. He knew exactly what she was feeling, as he felt it himself. "We need to investigate." Thor said in a tired voice.

"Yeah." Lyn said. "Come on."

They headed upstairs to look into what was in Loki's nightstand.

Enjoying dinner with a few new acquaintances, Loki suddenly knew Thor was on to the object in his nightstand drawer. He was well-versed in hiding reaction, and he didn't let on to his present company that anything was bothering him until a break in the conversation allowed him to pretend his phone had vibrated and he had to take a call.

As soon as he found an alcove to slip into, he allowed his energy to flow away. His physical form seemingly disappeared, and he traveled through astral currents and eddies back to Lyn's house. Horrified, he saw Lyn and Thor gathered around his nightstand. Neither of them seemed willing to open the drawer.

"YOU open it!" Lyn said to Thor. "Last time I did, it felt like a bunch of…weird thoughts flew out at me!"

Thor frowned. "I'll open it." He said, but his hand didn't move towards the drawer yet.

Unseen from the doorway of the room, Loki sighed heavily. "Dolts." He said.

"Hey…do you think it's something bad? I mean, why would it be something bad?" Lyn babbled nervously. Thor looked at her. "It can't be something bad. He wouldn't…I mean…" she trailed off and folder her hands.

"Neither of you trust me. Typical. You're not ready to know what it is though, and I can't have you snooping about, sorry." Loki said. He directed a strong camouflaging spell on the object, encasing it within the spell and damping any impression it may be giving out. At the same time, he deflected some of the effects of the object to the dagger in the drawer. The dagger itself was not a magical object, but it was a good receptacle for the physical manifestation Lyn and Thor picked up on. It would misdirect them in any case.

Thor pulled the drawer open and poked around inside. He drew back a bit and then shoved things around a little more, eventually pulling the dagger out. "This. I feel it on this." He held it up in the light. "Have you seen anything like this before?" he asked Lyn.

She laughed, surprisingly. "There are things like that stashed all over this fucking house. I've seen them under the sink in the bathroom, in the kitchen, on the shelf over the washing machine. I've seen weird books and jewelry appear and disappear around here, I don't know what any of that shit is, but I tend to ignore it. It's…unsettling. I don't want to know what it is."

"You've never mentioned this before!" Thor said, shocked.

"No, because I've never felt anything from any of it. Maybe he's…rubbing off on me now. I don't know."

Thor sighed. "Lyn, if you see anything strange, you have to promise to tell me. Loki is…"

Lyn didn't let him finish. "Loki is my heart, Thor. If something were to happen to him, remember what I told you before? My first trip up there in clouds? What did I say?"

"I understand. Loki is also my heart. He is my brother, my family. We are united in our concern for him. We also have to be committed to keeping him from hurting himself. Do you not agree?"

Lyn frowned at him and looked around the room, remembering her own similar thought earlier that day. "I get what you're saying." She got up and walked towards the door. "Take that damn thing out of here and get rid of it. I don't want to know what it is. I don't hide things from him, though. If he asks where it is, I'll have to tell him."

Loki, still observing from the doorway said, "I can always count on you, dear. At least I am assured of that." He stepped back and Lyn walked by him, without sensing his presence.

Thor stood up and followed, the dagger clutched in his hand, similarly not noticing Loki was there. After they had both left the room, Loki strengthened the cloaking spell on the object that was still in the drawer, hoping it would hold until his return. He returned back to solid physical form at the hotel and exhaled in relief as he leaned back against the wall. "Well, that was much too close." He murmured as he turned on his charm again and headed back to his dinner, feeling a little more secure about the object now that he'd thwarted Thor and Lyn's investigation. Those two were entirely too curious for their own good!


	5. A Familiar Face

Saturday dawned bright and clear and not too warm. Perfect day for an outdoor concert. Thor had taken a day off from Jane's data analysis, and Lyn was sleeping in, anticipating a long day that would probably end in inebriation. Loki was having a better time than he'd admit to hanging out with industry colleagues and schmoozing everyone in his path. Jane was in her element at her worm hole symposium.

Thor took the dagger from Lyn and Loki's house and hid it Jane's apartment. He planned on taking it back to Asgard as soon as possible, probably after Jane came home. He'd make an excuse to be gone for a day, and that bit of temptation would be removed from Loki's presence. He knew that was probably not going to take care of things, because Loki always seemed to be way ahead of everyone. He did need to find out what that dagger was about though. What was Loki up to? He decided to put thoughts of that aside for the day and try to enjoy the concert.

Lyn called to ask Thor if he wanted to go grab some lunch and chill out. He actually felt rather honored that Lyn would want to hang out with him. When he'd first met her, she was a bit less than friendly, and even after he'd brought Loki to her, she'd been cold and wary of him. Loki came first to her, everyone else had to earn their place in her heart and that wasn't an easy thing to do. She'd become close to Jane quickly, but still regarded Thor with suspicion until very recently. Winning over her trust was almost as hard as winning over Loki's. They were very similar souls in their mistrust of anyone outside their circle.

Thor wouldn't admit it, but he almost felt jealous of their closeness. Loki didn't really have friends in Asgard. Well, not like Thor had friends. Loki had associates. Beyond Frigga, Thor was the closest person to Loki. It was strange seeing his brother so close to someone else, especially a woman. The women in Asgard were not especially fond of Loki. They were mostly wary of him and his penchant for sorcery. He'd pulled a few embarrassing tricks on several of the older court ladies, which made the younger ones steer clear. Loki never seemed interested in them either. Loki never seemed interested in anyone beyond the end of his own nose.

Lyn picked up Thor around lunch time. They decided to go over to The Square, and grab a bite in one of the little bistros. Since Loki worked right there on the opposite side of The Square from where Thor and Lyn stopped for lunch, Lyn decided to drop in to Sojourns Remembered to see if anyone was there, and at least show Thor where the place was since Loki wouldn't even do THAT.

"Loki has said very little about what he does. He changes the subject quickly." Thor said as they walked across the street.

"He doesn't say much to me either. It was such a shock that he did this. I mean, that day I first talked to Jane on the phone, we were over there at the coffee shop…" Lyn pointed up the street at Starbucks, "…and he just got up and walked down there like he knew what he was doing. Next thing I know, the dumbass had a job." Thor chuckled at that. "He makes an assload of money too. At least he helps me out though. He pays more than his half of the expenses around the house and wants to pay for some more home improvements. I think he wants to get the deck redone, just because he likes to sit out there. I'd LOVE to get a gas grill or a smoker too. I actually found a vendor that sells wild boar meat at the farmer's market, we could all hang out when the weather's good, smoke the meats…ya know?"

Thor smiled at Lyn's commentary. Actually, wild boar sounded good to him. He was also glad to hear Loki helped Lyn out. Maybe he'd been wrong about Loki hiding something. Maybe they'd just overreacted. That dagger was a magical object, they could have been perceiving leftover vibrations from a previous owner. That was a commonplace occurrence among such things. Maybe it was time to cut Loki some slack. He'd lived on Midgard for quite a while now without incident. He'd been good to his new friend, and that would have been important to Frigga. Their mother truly wanted Loki to find someone to be close to outside of the family. She wanted him to learn to care about others, and identify with them, especially those on Midgard. Loki had such a low opinion of Midgard and it's people, especially since the first incident between him and Thor. The ensuing battle in New York and Loki's defeat at the hands of the Avengers didn't help.

After Frigga's death and Loki's 'pardon' for his part in helping defeat Malekith, he'd come straight to Midgard and never looked back. He wanted a place here, and he wanted it with this woman, Lyn. Frigga had been oddly fond of this woman. She'd asked Thor extensively about her after she'd visited the first time. If Frigga had lived, perhaps she and Lyn would have had a chance to meet. He wondered how that would have gone? His heart twinged slightly at that thought. He had a brief thought about Lyn and Jane in Asgard, enjoying a feast with them. Maybe Lyn could bring the custom of 'smoking the meats' outdoors to Asgard's people?

They were almost to the store now. "We're in luck! I see the lights on, maybe Calvin's working over on inventory or something. Would be cool if Sophia were around. She's the sweetest lady." Lyn said as she pulled the heavy door open and walked in with Thor behind her. "Hello! Anyone home?"

They heard a woman's muffled voice from further back in the store say "Lyn? I'll be right out!"

Thor wandered around the front room, marveling at the beauty of the place and the pieces of art and furniture. He smiled at the wonderful smell of the place too. It reminded him of the library in Asgard. It smelled like history and wisdom. This was probably why Loki loved this place so, and why he kept it to himself the way he did. There were no strange motives here, he just wanted to feel close to home, but wouldn't admit it. So much like Loki! Thor felt a warmth rise in his chest for his brother.

Behind him, he heard a woman's pleasant, almost familiar voice talking to Lyn. Between the smell and feel of the place, Thor was strangely at ease. "Hey Don! This is Sophia Ellison, Luke's boss. Sophia, this is Don Blake, Luke's ah…cousin."

Thor smiled at the use of his 'Midgard name'. He used that name on Midgard ever since he'd met Jane. It wasn't possible to hide his identity when he was dressed in his Asgardian attire and being an Avenger, but wearing normal Midgard clothes, with his hair up in a 'man bun' it was easy to get by as Don Blake, Hipster Dude. Every so often someone would tell him he strongly resembled Thor from The Avengers. He found this very amusing.

Thor turned around to greet Sophia and when he saw her, he froze in shock. Whatever he'd been about to say died on his lips, as he gaped incredulously at Frigga standing there. "Mother…?" He whispered. The woman looked at him with polite confusion in her eyes, and not an ounce of recognition. This was not Frigga, but this woman was her likeness in every way.

"Pardon?" Sophia said as she extended a hand to him.

Lyn was looking at Thor in confusion too. "You OK, man?" she asked.

Recovering quickly, Thor shook the woman's hand. "Yes…yes…I'm sorry. It's nice to meet you, Sophia." He stammered. Then followed up with, "I was just in awe of your establishment. It put me in mind of my mother. She would have loved so many of the pieces you have here."

Sophia smiled, all confusion gone. "I understand! Does she collect antiques?" The woman asked.

Thor had to look away from her so he didn't give in to the temptation to stare. "Yes…she did. Mother passed away some time back."

"I'm so sorry!" Sophia said. "I hope nothing here brought up a bad memory!"

Lyn stood back glancing between Thor and Sophia. Something had just happened with Thor. She knew it. She thought she heard Thor say 'Mother'. What was that about?

"No ma'am. Not at all. To the contrary." He said, and smiled. He was acting like he'd seen a ghost.

"Can I show Luke's office off to Don? Luke never lets us come here, probably because he's afraid we'd embarrass him or something."

Sophia laughed at that. "Go right ahead. You're always welcome here! I hope Luke's having a good time at the seminar. I should check in with him soon. Lyn, it wasn't any trouble with him leaving was it? I hope it didn't put you out!"

"Aw, no. It's all good. I have Don here to hang out with!" Lyn said, elbowing Thor in the arm. "Come on, I'll show you where the King holds court." Thor gave Sophia one last glance as Lyn dragged him off.

When they walked into Loki's office, Lyn plopped down in his chair and said "Yeah…rubbing my ass in your chair, fool! HA!" She leaned back in the chair and regarded Thor. He didn't respond to her, where normally he would have laughed or asked to rub his ass in it too. "Thor, what's up? Is there something about Sophia that's strange?"

"What? Oh uh…no. Everything is well. She seems like a very nice lady. Loki really adores her, doesn't he?"

Seemingly placated with that answer Lyn nodded and said, "He genuinely does, and she feels the same. They took right to each other. It was weird. I'd feel jealous if I didn't know better."

She gave a small chuckle, and Thor was oddly reminded of his earlier feelings about Lyn.

They hung around in Loki's office for a little longer. Lyn wrote something obscene on a sticky note and folded it up on Loki's computer monitor, because that's the way they were. "Here…have one of his business cards. I'm surprised they're not scented or some shit. He's so freakin' pissy." Lyn handed Thor one of Loki's business cards. Thor slipped it in his pocket.

By the time they left, Thor's previous thoughts of perhaps being mistaken about Loki's intentions were scattered. What attracted him to this place? Was it the fact Sophia looked like Frigga? Was there something else? Of course there was. There's always something else with Loki. Always. Thor wasn't sure if he should be angry, disappointed or sad. How about all three? Yeah, all three would do for now. He followed Lyn back outside, half listening to her bright chatter. He decided he wouldn't bring the likeness up to her. He knew she'd never met Frigga, which meant Loki was keeping it from Thor purposefully. No wonder he'd always change the subject about his job! Also, Thor knew Lyn was plagued by heavy anxiety, and he didn't want her to fret over this until he had a handle on the situation. If there was something that would drive Lyn to incessant worrying it would be the thought of anything happening to Loki. She might feel a little warmer towards Thor, but she wouldn't hesitate to protect Loki. Thor suspicioned she might lay down her life for Loki if need be, and he didn't want any such thing happening.

Damn it, Loki!

"Hey! Let's grab a coffee and go watch some TV at my house for awhile. I might give Loki a call. Ain't his office something else? I can't believe he lucked into something like that! Here I am hoping I can escape from the shit show I'm working at." Lyn said as they crossed the street, headed for the coffee shop.


	6. You Know That's My Jam

Thor and Lyn went to the concert that evening, the headlining band being The Arctic Monkeys. At first, Thor was very confused by the names of musical groups Midgardian people listened to. Loki was more adaptive than he was on that note. At one time, Thor had the audacity to ask if 'Deftones' really meant tone deaf. Lyn had to explain why Loki was so offended.

Lyn enjoyed herself immensely that evening! She sent Loki and Jane several pictures from the concert. She and Thor stayed up on the lawn, because it was better for moving around and cheaper than being in the pit. Less sweaty too. Lyn drank a great deal and tried not to let Loki's absence bother her. She tried not to worry about him, tried not to worry about the weird thing in his nightstand, tried not to worry about Thor's momentary shock at meeting Sophia. Loki portrayed Thor as a big, oafish goofball that wore his heart on his sleeve. Lyn noticed that Thor was as proficient at reigning it in as Loki, just in a different way. Right now, Thor was her concert buddy. Beer in hand, smile on face, fist in air. Earlier he'd concealed emotions with a very practiced precision. Maybe some of that warrior-stuff from Almighty Asgard. If something had startled him to where he had to shift into that mode, then it was most likely not a good thing, and probably had to do with Loki. But…Arctic Monkeys! Beer! Dance! No anxiety allowed!

Lyn was glad she'd gone to the concert after all. If she hadn't she'd have been sitting at home sober, worrying, and feeling the lack of Loki. She knew she was becoming overly dependent on his presence. When Thor first brought Loki to her, he'd mentioned that Loki was there of his own volition. He was no longer a prisoner of Asgard, and he was free to come and go as he pleased. Loki's status on Midgard was another story. Loki was still reviled on Midgard. Since Thor's first foray on 'modern' Midgard several years ago, he'd realized that some things weren't quite as they seemed with Midgardian rulers. He knew, as Lyn also found through digging and paying close attention, that there were pieces to Loki's story that didn't line up with what he'd seen broadcast on the news. Yes, Loki was responsible for a great deal of destruction and chaos…but the government had changed pieces of the story, which made Thor suspicious. He could have handed Loki over to the Midgardian authorities, but chose to trust him to Lyn's care instead. He was still watching the situation.

Loki was evasive as to why he agreed to help the alien entity attack Midgard. At first, he'd simply told Thor the entity owed him a favor, and Loki called in that favor in the form of helping him take over Midgard to gain revenge against Thor. Later, after the war with Malekith, Loki said he'd wanted to throw a mirror in Odin's face regarding the way he treated other realms. Let Odin see the things he'd really been teaching his sons over the years. How better to get revenge on Thor than to take away the realm he loved so much by using the same type of tactics their own father had used openly during the course of their growing up.

Another question Loki avoided was who this alien entity was. Loki brushed all of it off by saying the ship Tony Stark destroyed with the nuke had ended the possibility of any future invasions. The alien and his army was now dead. His weapons of power were now in the possession of Asgard and Midgard. All was well. While this sounded legit enough to Thor, there was still…something else. Loki knew more, and in that vein, Odin himself knew more. Thor didn't think all was well.

"You know what I want, man? Fucking pancakes. We need pancakes like…now." Lyn said, as they filed out of the concert. "Ain't no way I'm going home and going to bed lit up like a Christmas tree." She laughed and bumped into him, very unsteady on her feet. "Let's do the Uber over to Ihop! The Uberhop!"

Thor was actually sober. He planned things that way so he could make sure everything went well, and maybe he might get a little insight out of Lyn on Loki. At first he felt like that was probably taking advantage of her inebriated and more open state, but there was more at stake here. If Loki was up to some dark scheme, her life, and indeed all the lives in the multiverse, could be endangered. That and he loved Loki. No matter what, Loki was his brother, his family. Sometimes Loki might not use the best judgment, and Thor wanted to save Loki from himself if he could.

They were able to get a booth in the back of the restaurant, in a corner away from too many eyes and cell phones. People still 'mistook' him for Thor sometimes. It was becoming more challenging to maintain his double identity, even if he had an ID to flash that said 'Don Blake'. People on Midgard were clever, like Lyn. She saw something about Loki and his story that raised questions within her enough to research deeper. It was only a matter of time before Thor and Don Blake were found out to be one in the same.

"Oh my GOD, is there anything better than pancakes with a bunch of butter and syrup after a drunk night at a concert?" she said, tearing into her stack.

"Quite true!" Thor answered, doing the same. He waited for the coffee and pancakes to kick in enough as to where Lyn would feel comfortable to open up a bit. She was very guarded when it came to Loki. Thor wondered if maybe Loki had told her not to talk to him about it, but after getting to know Lyn, he became sure it was due to love and protection of Loki.

"I thank you for taking me to see Loki's workplace." Thor began, stealing a look at his companion, gaging her response. She was happily sipping at her coffee, that didn't seem to phase her.

"No problem! I like to go there, it's such a comfy place. I want to curl up on that couch in the front with a book, ya know? Cozy as fuck." She stabbed a fluffy bunch of pancake and ate it, chewing thoughtfully. "I was just kidding when I said Loki doesn't like it when I go there, but I think that's kind of true? I mean he talks about work a little, but not very much. Sophia told me to drop by whenever, but if I want to go, Loki just says it's busy, not a good time, they have meetings, blah blah blah." She waved a hand. "I'll tell ya, pleasing her is of the utmost importance to him. He is really, really weird about it."

Thor poured himself a little more coffee and stirred it around. "Weird? How so? Is she a difficult employer?" he asked lightly.

"Oh no! Nothing like that! Loki comes and goes as he pleases. I'm not exactly sure what all he does, and I'm not sure why she was so trusting of him so fast. I mean, he deals with rare expensive stuff in there. Did you see the security? It's just a showroom too. All the really expensive shit is off site somewhere."

Thor looked up at the mention of 'rare expensive stuff'. He knew that Midgard housed a lot of artifacts of extreme power. In fact, most Midgardians didn't realize that their realm was a hotbed of otherworld activity. The biggest wakeup call was the New York incident with Loki. Entities of various other realms stashed relics of power on Midgard before humans even existed. A lot of those relics hid in everyday, mundane disguises unknown as to their true nature by most that touched them. Like maybe ornamental daggers. Thor frowned.

"Does Loki spend a lot of time…off site? Does he have to transport these things?" Thor asked as he cut into his steak and eggs.

"I think he deals more with the logistics of getting them from buyer to seller, or lender to borrower. I know he talks to a lot of people in a lot of languages." She leaned over the table slightly and whispered, "He sounds SO SEXY when he speaks French, oh my god!" She laughed and lounged back in her chair. "He's so sexy all the time though. Dammit, how is he SO perfect?" She gushed.

Thor felt slightly guilty about what he was doing when he saw her face and heard the happiness that radiated from her voice and into her eyes when she spoke of Loki. It drifted from her like warm golden smoke, her love. She exuded it and was infused with it. Thor could almost feel it's heat across the table. He couldn't decide if it made him happy that someone felt so strongly for his brother, or sad at the fact such love would be unrequited.

Misunderstanding his awkward smile, Lyn closed her eyes in embarrassment and said, "I'm sorry! I shouldn't talk like that about your brother to you! You asked if Loki moved around stuff for Sophia. No, he doesn't physically move stuff himself. I know he also deals with auction houses. He mentions Sotheby's a lot. Most of it is taken care of online or over the phone. He talks more than anything."

"Loki is very, very good at talking." Thor said flatly.

"You're not wrong!" Lyn agreed. "He talked his way into that job for sure."

"How so?"

"He just took off down there while I talked to Jane on the phone. From what Sophia said, he helped her out of a sticky situation with a Japanese art dealer, and got her a good price to boot. She hired him almost on the spot." Lyn paused for a few seconds, then added, "I thought that was really strange. Later on, I understood this deal was for a piece worth over a million dollars. She said she was hesitant to trust a stranger, but Loki…well. I guess that's the answer, eh?"

Thor nodded his head in agreement. "You're probably right! Loki tends to make people feel at ease, and that he can solve your problems. Initially, at least." Thor caught himself before elaborating any further. "So, Sophia just hired him that quickly? She seemed like a very levelheaded woman. I'd say her judgment is sound enough. What's your impression been of her thus far?"

"I was a little curious, so I did some digging. Sophia told Loki and I that she and her husband started the business a long time ago downtown, but then moved out here to the 'burbs. Well, I find that Sophia is extremely wealthy and well-connected. I mean, it's obvious when you meet her that she's got class, but she's like…actually met the Queen of England, among other members of European royalty. She's deep into charity around here. One of her pet projects is a new art gallery in town. She's wanting to spend more time on that, and needed someone to take over a lot of her duties and become the 'face' of Sojourns Remembered, and THAT is why she hired Loki. He was the right guy at the right place and the right time. You'd think he knew."

"You'd think." Thor said, feeling more uneasy with this arrangement than he had before. "Is that one of the reasons Loki is out of town at that conference?"

Lyn nodded, and concern crossed her face. "I'm not sure what this is going to mean for the future. I wondered if maybe it might mean Loki's going to be gone more. At first, I worried that might mean someone would like…recognize him or something and they'd…I don't know…arrest him?" She stopped and sighed before continuing. "I wanted him to be shut of all that madness. I hoped he'd want to put it behind him, and whatever family drama you guys had, and just stay here and move on. Is that too much to ask for?" She looked up at Thor expectantly, as if he might be able to actually answer that question.

Thor reached across the table and took her hand, giving it a firm squeeze. "It is not too much to ask for. It is exactly what I hope for him too. I hope it for us both. Our family has suffered, and…" Thor paused, amending his thought and speaking it aloud for the first time to anyone, even Jane, "…and not all of our pain was due to Loki. There is blame to be passed to all, myself included. I only wanted my brother back. I must thank you, Lyn, for being a help in making that come to pass."

"Aw shucks, we gonna need tissue here?" Lyn joked. "For real though, thanks for bringing Loki here. I love him. You know that though. Thanks for introducing me to Jane too. I've never had people close to me like all of you." She looked like she might actually need the tissues she joked about earlier.

"You have much in common with Loki. I believe that's why you were so drawn to him. You have been good for him."

As they finished their late night pancakes, and Lyn sobered back up. Thor hoped Loki would end up being good for Lyn in turn. Right now it looked like that may not be the case. As soon as Loki got back tomorrow, Thor was going to find a way to get him alone so they could have a conversation about Sophia, and what his intentions were as far as she went. Was all of this just part of some bigger plan, or did he happen on to this? Sophia's resemblance to their mother though, that couldn't be a coincidence. Could it?

Loki pulled into the driveway half expecting to see Thor and Lyn both standing outside waiting for him. He was almost let down when that wasn't the case. He headed up the walk with his luggage and the door opened before he could even get that far. Lyn held the door open for him as he walked in. He heard South Park on the TV and cringed.

"Brother! Welcome home!" Thor said, peeking around the corner from the living room.

As Thor watched, his heart sank a little as Loki put his luggage down and Lyn silently hugged him. He hoped her heart wouldn't be hurt by anything that came from his conversation with Loki. She held on to Loki for as long as she could, her hand running down the back of his hair. She whispered something to him and he answered in a whisper as well. They had their secrets. Thor went back to watching South Park and sipping his beer to give them a bit of privacy.

Finally, Loki strode into the living room. Suit jacket already on it's way to the dry cleaning bag, Loki looked relaxed with the sleeves of his white shirt rolled up and vest still on. He had a glass of wine and seemed to be in a fine mood.

"Have you even left this couch since Jane and I have been gone?" Loki asked lightly, cocking an eyebrow at his brother.

"I went to the concert!" Thor said happily.

"Oh yes. That's right." Loki said, smirking back at him. "And I guess at least one of you had enough alcohol to start sending videos on Snapchat that made no sense. Thank you for that bit of amusement, by the way." Loki sipped at his wine.

"Hey don't get on Thor's case, that was me." Lyn shuffled in with her own glass of wine. "You know how 'R U Mine?' is my jam."

"Indubitably." Loki said gravely. "I do prefer that jam as well. I heard it in the video, alas the stage was obscured by the ground and then the sky."

"Yeah, so my video skills suck after I drink, gimme a break! How did your big seminar go?"

"It went well. I acquired the certification I needed. It looks like it wasn't quite as easy for others there. They were also probably sending drunk snaps instead of studying the material, but I digress. I accomplished my goal." He shrugged. "So, how did things go around here in my absence?"

"You were missed!" Thor said. "We tried to raid on Friday and it was fail. Not the same without you."

"Of course not!" Loki said. "Is Jane returning tomorrow?"

"Yes!" Thor replied, and then decided to go for it, now or never, and Loki appeared to be in a rare good, open mood. "Loki, come to dinner with me the day after Jane's return? It's been a long time since we've been out just the two of us."

"Hey yeah! You two go on." Lyn said. "Jane and I can go do a girl's night."

Thor smiled at her, and looked at Loki. "Yeah?"

Loki raised his eyebrows and drained his wine glass, waving it imperiously at Lyn when it was empty and ignoring her long-suffering sigh. "Oh why not?"

When Lyn was out of the room, Thor reached into his pocket and pulled out Loki's business card. "We have some things to discuss. Brother." He said as he handed Loki the card.

Loki looked up at him with angry, narrowed eyes. "It seems as though we do." His voice not giving away the emotion showing in his eyes.

Thor leaned close, taking advantage of the water running in the kitchen to cover his harsh whisper, "I have not disclosed anything to Lyn. That will be your duty."

"'Tis not as you think." Loki hissed before the water cut off.

"Hey guys, were you going to play, or watch TV?" Lyn said handing Loki another glass of wine.

"I'll take my leave now." Thor said mildly, standing up and stretching. "I have a ride coming. You two should catch up!" Thor gave Loki a knowing look.

Lyn walked Thor to the door, and then came back in the living room to sit by Loki. "Did you run him off?"

"No." Loki answered. His tone was strange and Lyn looked at him curiously. "Let's watch a movie, dear." He said sweetly.


End file.
